Talk to an Iraqi

During our discussion in class on Tuesday we watched a short film called Talk to an Iraqi-This American Life. It was a very interesting short film and I wished it could have been expanded upon and lengthened to include many more of the interviews that he had. I feel that many people would benefit from watching this or simply talking to an Iraqi about the situations. This is a great starting point I think for something much larger, possibly a traveling panel of some kind so that more perspectives of the Iraqis can be seen and heard on a much larger scale.

I found a link that leads to a little biography of Haider Hamza, the young man who put together the clips. It was very interesting to learn a little bit more about him as a person and to know why he wanted to do this segment. It is best summarized in the following quote.

Haider said, "I always wondered, what do people in American know of what is happening and do they feel responsible...did this war change their lives at all, since it has for sure changed ours dramatically."

His thoughts and curiousness are on a very basic human level. He wants to know what do Americans know about the war and how do they feel and by viewing the clip you witness that some do not know much at all and that an eleven year old girl has probably the most insight out of anyone that was involved. She apologizes outright for America’s presence and she sympathizes with Haider because her father is serving in the war currently. I felt this was a very important clip to show and I’m glad that we were able to gain a perspective that we don’t usually have the privilege of knowing.